Burkina Faso’s junta leader meets former leaders

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, held talks Friday with the country’s former leaders as part of his national reconciliation effort following last year’s coup.

The meeting between Damiba and predecessors Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo, who ruled from November 1982 to August 1983, and Blaise Compaore, from October 1987 to October 2014, in the national capital of Ouagadougou was aimed at “nothing more than the search for social cohesion” he told reporters at a news conference.

Damiba, speaking alongside the two former leaders, urged Burkinabe to “put national interests above their partisan interests” to build the country.

He said bilateral exchanges with former heads of state who were unable to take part in the meeting would continue in an effort to find common ground to unite the country.

Damiba’s immediate predecessor, Roch Kabore, who was ousted in a January coup, missed the meeting as did Yacouba Isaac Zida, who was transition leader from Nov. 1 - 21, 2014. He lives in Canada.

Also missing was Michel Kafando, who took the helm from November 2014 - December 2015, reportedly because of health issues.

Compaore was reportedly blocked from leaving his home by a group of demonstrators.

He arrived in the country Thursday for the first time since 2014 when he fled to the Ivory Coast.

Compaore, 71, returned to the West African country despite being convicted in absentia in April and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1987 assassination of his predecessor and revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

Since his arrival, there was a rallying call for his arrest from Sankara’s family lawyers and the country’s union of magistrates.

The Ivory Coast, where he took refuge had reportedly on several occasions refused to extradite him but agreed to his return Thursday with Burkinabe authorities.

Burkina Faso has been battling an insurgency that has spread from neighboring Mali in the past decade.

A large-scale massacre June 11-12 left 100 people dead and thousands displaced in the Seytenga commune, 15 kilometers (27 miles) from the border with Niger.

Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called for urgent support for 16,000 Burkinabe, mostly women and children, driven from their homes by deadly attacks by insurgents in the country’s Sahel region.